A uniform, effective and equitable system of quality control for pavements has been applied to road-building projects in the Netherlands since 1968.The system has been developed in consultation between the public authorities and the con tractors' organizations. The system is characterized by a distinction between regular, daily production control by the contractor and limited retrospective acceptance control by the public authority based on random samples. Under the existing non-statistical system, samples (one per 2000 m2) are examined to determine the layer thicknesses, sand cement strength and density and bitumen content of the asphalt. When the quality does not meet the specified values, financial penalties are applied the level of which depends on the extent of the deviation from the set standards. In the light of experience with over 300 major projects, the system has now been developed into an almost entirely statistical method of control which is ready for practical introduction.